Within the realms of Hollywood, drama circulates from actor to actor, often fueled by some sort of outside speculations and rumors. Though this situation is extremely common, there are certain individuals who don’t follow the standard of professionalism that is held in that part of society.
Genuine romantic relationships sparking between actors are not new occurrences, they have been known to take place and have even set the internet back because of them. However, as of recently, these relationships, or even rumored relationships, have started to take a toll on the actual production of their work.
The most recent and overwhelming case of this behavior that has created a significant amount of discourse on social media is one regarding one of the most popular shows on Netflix currently, “Outer Banks.”
The success of this show was prominent from the first season, and it was able to connect to its viewers and created a large fanbase for itself. This connection led to a portion of viewers to have a form of a parasocial relationship with the actors of the show, not the characters.
This too happens often, but the behavior of the viewers affected the actors behaviors as well. Due to the chemistry of the actors on screen, admirers of the show began to create their own romantic pairings or “shipped” the actors.
This took place between the actors Madison Bailey and Rudy Pankow, who initially had no romantic relationship on the show, but, because of a profuse urge from the audience, the writers decided to include it into the show. In interviews, it also seemed that the actors were close, often appearing very friendly and spoke in high regard about each other.
This changed once fans started to over-analyze the platonic relationship between the two, which again, is not a new conduct and happens to a great deal of actors. Yet, the two actors did not conduct themselves in a professional manner after this.
From what many sources say, the genuine partner of Pankow expressed her uncomfort with the comments of people online and even the relationship between the actors and characters.
This created distancing between the Pankow and Bailey, and they no longer seemed to address each other in interviews or on social media in the same way, They also took to social media and addressed the viewers that were creating the “issue”, stating that there was no drama between the actors or their real-life partners.
Though some of the audience might have had an issue with this, those are only personal issues and had no effect on the show. However, this changed too; in noticeable ways, the relationship of the characters were affected by this unprofessional uncomfort between the actors.
The chemistry and bond between their characters changed for the worse, and this was apparent to all viewers, not only the ones who had desires for an outside relationship to spark. This unprofessionalism from the actors turned many away from the show, and it wasn’t only the chemistry that was affected.
The most recent season is where the majority of the issues took place, there was an obvious shift that was completely out of character for the characters. Pankow and Bailey went as far as to require stunt doubles for a scene that displayed them resting their heads on each other and ended with the season writing one of the characters off.
I believe this is most upsetting because within the same show two actors that shared an actual romantic relationship on and off screen did not let this affect their job. Actors Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes, two individuals who started and ended their relationship during the show have been able to keep their on screen relationship the same.
The two have not let any personal discretions bleed into the quality of their professionalism and the chemistry between the characters faced to punishment, nor did they need stunt doubles to fill in for unnecessary actions that like a simple hug.